Five of my books were published by traditional publishers. When the last one gave up the ghost a month after releasing my book, I decided to reissue it under my own imprint. Since then, I've put out more work, most recently a suite of linked short stories. The idea for that came with a package of new drawings my sister sent me. They always fascinate me, these expressionistic renderings of the process of thinking and the function of mood. The images reminded me of  characters in my stories, so I reworked five of them to highlight the overlap. I put a drawing to each story, and bound the chapbook with the cover drawing that sparked a title: Variations on a Theme with Harmonica. Next, I made a little video with the other images in Janet's set, scored with a bit of blues and posted it on YouTube  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLatQPi1kd8  Next, I posted our  little book on Issuu and Smashwords as a free download. Encouraged by the number of hits, I formatted it for Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Variations-Theme-Harmonica-ebook/dp/B004INHKBW/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_8. By this time, CreateSpace had the book on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Variations-Theme-Harmonica-Cheryl-Snell/dp/1456537... and one of my generous colleagues put up this review: "Writers are often asked where their ideas come from. A more telling question might be what form -- poems, novels, stories short and long -- those ideas shape themselves into. Cheryl Snell's VARIATIONS ON A THEME WITH HARMONICA is a deftly crafted chapbook that draws on the nature of improvisation. Experimental in form, it sheds light on the shape-shifting nature of fictional characters."

So that's the way I wear my publisher's hat. For more about my sister, read http://ning.it/hAjJ2T As for me, I'm taking a nap.